Ages and Time
The world of NEĐAN has many different ways upon which a Civilization or Race may track time; using Stars, the Sun, one of the Three Sisters (Or Moons) orbiting the world, or other methods (Mundane or Magical) that exist to be able to track time. Examples, as such, include the High Calendar (the most commonly used method of tracking time), the Ryddish Calendar of eight months, the various and differing Élman calendars, and the other, less 'standard' records used by other races and civilizations for tracking time's progress. For our purposes, we will be referring specifically to the High Calendar- Used or known almost universally, renowned as the most accurate and advanced of all time-keeping methods. In this, however, there are many distinctions- Although Time itself is administered outside the realm of true 'Gods' by beings such as The Timekeeper, the Gods do have certain influence, being in themselves embodiments of various parts or aspects of the Universe, and get to loosely affect Time and it's slow transit between the worlds. The gods themselves have little concept of time, being immortal and near-omnicient- With the exception of the twin gods of Fate and Time, who themselves have only a minor affect other then as watchers or guardians- But still act in accordance with time and the infinite as they see fit. For instance, the Voidstones had the ability to warp time around where they were located, being an almost pure embodiment of the Void itself, and some powerful Magical abilities have the side-affect of allowing temporary breaks with reality, such as teleportation between different locations. Time also works differently for each individual World or 'Plane'; whitch is delegated and managed by the god of Time to ensure that the infinite and the currently known and established Planar structure does not fall out of alignment. Ages and Epochs The world of NEĐAN itself tracks long sections of time not always in Years, but also by events of historical, cultural, or religious significance; with the name of that period of time being marked by both the theme of the age and what occured during it's time (Where also the term 'History' is defined as an event significant enough in itself to widely impact a significant population or group of people, or to be renown across multiple ages or Epochs as a major and widely-known or spoken event). These are known as Ages. Each Age contains a variable number of Years, or the time taken (By the High Calendar created and managed by the Administratum) for the Fate Moon to make one full cycle of the Earth, or approximatley 16 'Months', total. Ages vary widely on both what they contain or what happened during their time, as well as take anywhere from the span of a hundred years to a few thousand- Such as the most notable and longest age, the Age of Stone, whitch is speculated to have lasted 773,000 Years total, if not more. Every time a new Age begins, time in years reset to zero- marking the passage of the old Age and the beginning of the new, as well as listing what Age is currently progressing and the Month or Transit cycle of the year . However, certain events- Specifically, the Gate Wars- mark the beginning of an entirely new 'Epoch', or 'Super-Age', that in itself contains many ages and tens or hundreds of thousands of years. These mark the beginning of an entirely new area in the world's History, a time where both technology, the magical arts, and the Aiúd have advanced to the point where History can no longer be compared to it's contemporaries. Although many of the beginning of these 'Epochs', being Gate Wars, usually result in the significant regressing or outright destruction of cultures and peoples in the World itself, History manages to carry on, along with most of the Gods in their slowly-waning power. Many living in a specific Epoch know little- If anything- about past Epochs, are most are spoken only in myth. Even the world's most studious historians, priests, or treasure-hunters know little about the past worlds, and the area of study is commonly spoken as a mystery of itself. However, this does not always mean that problems from previous Epochs or Ages have no affect on current or future ones- Often times, many beings such as legendary creatures or disputes between gods still persist, either being apart from the progress of time itself or significant enough to not be 'removed' by the events that may have since transpired. This also usually results in many cultures developing legends and stories around the creation of certain advanced relics and technologies from past Epochs, as well as these lost technologies becoming the focus for many different ventures and conflicts, spawning both prosperity and death as more are found or lost. Many previous Ages and Epochs are recorded in either written or oral record- Passed down through song, legend, or story, or written directly into an archive for later use and recollection. Some particularily powerful beings or races, such as the Dùrman-Dùr before the discovery of the Worlds Below (or the 'Underdeep'), profited greatly from the discovery, hoarding, and studying of ancient artifacts and technologies, and many remaining Dùrman Fortress-Factories contain wealths of knowledge on previous Ages and Epochs, technologies, and information. This information, however, is not (And by extension, cannot be) fully complete, and the passage of time and the ebb and flow of society during the Epochs has left many holes and false truths in many different archives or records. Although a few do attempt to compare and recall history as accuratley as is possible, such things in such a vast timespan often prove difficult, and the true recording of past knowledge or recovery of past items is often a job that is termed as difficult or dangerous to continue. The following sections detail the history of the World, as they are known and taught throught the Twelve Realms. Full articles and timelines for each Epoch and it's Ages are included below. Pre-History and Myth The times before the Ages are only known in history and mythology, passed down and recorded by generations of cultures and peoples, surviving through the Epochs as stories and fairy-tales made to children. Almost all knowledge of the Times Before Times was never recorded; and as a result, the information included here- up to the Fifth Epoch- is subject to frequent dispute, confusion, and interpretation between the World's major scholars. According to what is known, the Universe was first known as a vast space encompassing all existence, known as The Beyond, where all possibility existed as a simultaneous fusion of 'what is' and 'what is not'. Soon, after an unknown and incalculable time, this space spawned the vast beings known as the Úl, '''The Lost', manifestations of thought without possessing things such as consciousness or will. These beings, both finite and infinite, spanned all metaexistence, and coalesced simply as formless beings and shapes, which together both created and destroyed vast universes, ideas, and realities over the span of an incalculable sum of years. Time passed on as the ''Úl ''continued, and a hundred epochs came and left in less then the blink of an eye. This was, however, until the ''Gaúd Gasi, or the Gaúd, the Over-Gods or the First Powers, eventually spawned from the wake of their thoughts, posessing the one invention out of the many they had seen that was able to actively influence the worlds around them: Will. Where previous incarnations created by the Úl ''had form and thought, and could think and create, they could only do so within the confines of the worlds they were created in. The ''Gaú''d Gasi, as such, posessing Will, had the ability not simply to do what they may within a reality, but also ''decide to do what they may within realities; and thus, understand; rather then simply following rulesets. As such, they were able to realize the nature of the reality they found themselves in, and quickly First Race of Mortal Gods, the ''Aiúd, ''were created; the first true beings other then them to be forced into The Beyond EDIT The First Epoch The Second Epoch By far the most lengthy of all the Epochs, the Second Epoch itself spanned roughly a length of almost 40% of the entire World's history since the creation of the world and the awakening of the Élman and the Álman during the Age of the First Gods, and remains one of the most significant times in known history. The Third Epoch Also known as the 'Transition Period', the Third Epoch was marked by the beginning of the War of Lost Souls, one of the World's most brutal and destructive wars that almost led to the destruction of all the species in the world and, perhaps, even pre-emtively began the beginning processes to bring the Final Epoch and the re-awakening of the Old Ones' presence in the world itself. This was, however, only partially due to the direct actions of races during the Epoch itself- The War of the Magi itself was prompted by divine intervention of the Forgotten in mortal affairs directly, and shows the consequence of such actions occuring on such a widespread scale. The Fourth Epoch The Fourth Epoch was marked most prominently by the Voidstone Crisis, a direct result of the end of the War of Lost Souls and the intervention of the Gods, eventually ending the Epoch a short time later with the Sundering, casting the Forgotten into the Infinite Darkness outside the Universe where the Old Ones survive in what remains the last major act of divine power on that scale. The Fifth Epoch After the end of the Third Gate War and the destruction and imprisonment of the Voidstones during the Sundering, the world has fallen into a new Epoch in itself, known and counted as the Fifth Epoch Future Epochs Little is known or said about Future epochs, and the World still has yet to transition out of the Fifth Epoch, whitch it currently resides within. Despite this, many predictions and expectations have already been made about Future events, both by divine beings and non-human entities and also by inhabitents of the World drawing their own conclusions. A few truths, however, still remain constant despite speculation. Perhaps most prominent of these many truths are the predicted and eventual beginning of the Last Epoch, as well as the return of the Old Ones to the currently-established Planar structure of the Universe and the destruction of the Worldgates. It is said that, after the Gods rebelled against the Old Ones and established the Universe (or 'Metaplane', as some know it), there was still a single flaw left- The limited quantity of Ethereal Force that makes up the universe created by the gods. Although this Ethereal Force is nearly infinite in volume, with the severing of the Aiúd from the Old Ones' grasp and control, they lost their ability to fully create and destroy this Ethereal Force without the sacrificing of a small amount of their own Divine Force tying them to the fabric of the infinite. With the gradual transition from the Aiúd to the lesser powers of the Siúd and the Tiúd, this overall amount of power has become less and less, to the point where, even with several of the Siúd working in harmony, it has become impossible for the gods to move, create, cast out, or destroy Worlds within the Metaplane. As souls are cast into the Void or split during the Reforging process, this requires a small sum of Ethereal Force to accomplish- Building new Souls to fill demand or wiping them clean- whitch, in it's current and limited state, is bound to eventually run out. This has led many of the gods- For instance, the Forgotten- to actively attempt to control the amount of souls being forged or split at the Gate of the Universe; either to be reforged and reincarnate in a new form in the Forge of Creation or to be cast permanently into the Void, or to interfere in mortal matters directly in themselves, a divine violation of Universal law. This has been accomplished several times, such as with the Voidstone Crisis, the War of the Magi, and many of the World's long stagnant periods, such as the Age of Stone. Although the Gods dissaprove of such activities, the truth of the matter is apparent- Without any Ethereal Force to make new souls, sustain Worlds and the Metaplane, or allow for the use of Magical activities, the power of the Gods over both their own creations and the survival of their creations themselves will easily be called into question. Should it ever run out, the Old Ones, infinite in power and possibility, would be able to return and reclaim the Gods as their own, destroying the Universe and resetting known history back to the Time Before Creation. This is spoken of rarely, and is said to bring bad omens to those who speak of it, but such history has been detailed several times, such as with the epic poem known as 'The Song Of The End'. Timekeeping Keeping time in NEĐAN, besides the standard minutes or hours in a day- Corresponding to the Sun's position in the Sky itself- __FORCETOC__